Crossover Actors - Chapter 33

Lu Wen rushed out of the bathroom and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11:30 PM—time for kids to drift into dreams, high schoolers to burn the midnight oil studying for exams, couples to crawl into bed together.

 

Just then, Qu Yanting called him, telling him to come over without any pretense.

 

“Wha… What?” Lu Wen pretended to be confused. “I didn’t hear you clearly…”

 

Qu Yanting repeated, “Come over, to my room.”

 

The chandelier cast a hazy light, leaving Lu Wen’s mind blank. He was flustered, standing like a soaked mop on the floor, his words trembling, “I… I’m already in bed.”

 

Qu Yanting said, “Then get up.”

 

Lu Wen’s vision darkened, and he felt a surge of panic. “It’s so late! What do you want me to come over for?”

 

Qu Yanting replied, “There’s a change in the script for Scene 78. Come over and review the lines with me.”

 

Lu Wen almost laughed in disbelief. Did Qu Yanting think he was stupid? Sneaking into a room late at night with the excuse of reviewing a script—who would believe that?

 

“Hurry up,” Qu Yanting said before hanging up.

 

As the dial tone echoed in his ear, Lu Wen felt a cold shiver. He had no power to refuse unless he didn’t want to stay in the business. But once he stepped through that door, would it mean accepting Qu Yanting’s unwritten rules?

 

That night, he vividly remembered the scene of Ruan Feng having a secret meeting with Qu Yanting.

 

Times had changed, and now it was his turn.

 

Lu Wen got goosebumps, anxiously imagining how Qu Yanting might coerce him, and how he would defend his principles and dignity.

 

No matter what, he absolutely wouldn’t get involved with Qu Yanting. Besides, he probably wouldn’t even be able to get aroused by a man, right?

 

Lu Wen tried to calm himself, feeling a bit better. He was a tall, strong man, nearly 1.88 meters tall. Surely he could handle whatever Qu Yanting threw at him, right?

 

Just to be safe, Lu Wen opened his contacts and found his three closest friends: Gu Zhuoyan, Su Wang, and Lian Yiming.

 

Gu Zhuoyan was gay, having come out, had his first love, and lost his virginity all in high school. He was practically the epitome of a successful gay man. Lu Wen decided to skip him—after all, he was about to be taken advantage of by a man, and he was a bit homophobic.

 

Lian Yiming was mature and steady, but he was too kind-hearted. After some deliberation, Lu Wen decided to call the sharp and cunning Su Wang.

 

Su Wang picked up after two rings. His “Hello?” cut through the lonely night. Hearing his good buddy’s voice, Lu Wen felt emotional. “Bro, it’s me.”

 

“Who else could it be?” Su Wang replied. “What’s up, Mr. Leading Man? Is Chongqing’s nightlife sizzling?”

 

Too sizzling. Lu Wen said, “I figured you weren’t asleep yet. Still working overtime?”

 

Su Wang was in private equity, a senior partner, a golden elite in the eyes of others, but he liked to self-deprecate: “Yeah, the grind of a finance worker—I’m tired of talking about it.”

 

Lu Wen expressed concern, “Take care of yourself.”

 

Su Wang, sharp as ever, asked, “So, what’s up? You in trouble?”

 

Lu Wen found it hard to say, so he made up an excuse: “I have a social engagement I can’t avoid later. Can you call me in an hour?”

 

Su Wang immediately understood, “You need an out?”

 

“Yeah, can you help?” Lu Wen asked.

 

Su Wang scoffed, “Easy, we’ve got this.”

 

With the plan set, Lu Wen started getting dressed and went into his packed wardrobe.

 

After hanging up, Qu Yanting took a quick shower. By the time they finished reviewing lines, it would be late, and he could go straight to bed.

 

Just as he was about to blow dry his hair, the doorbell rang. Qu Yanting opened the door with his usual indifferent expression, but his pupils dilated slightly when he saw who it was.

 

Outside the door, Lu Wen was dressed in a complex three-piece suit. His shirt was buttoned to the top, his vest fastened with hidden buttons, and his coat had double-breasted buttons. His pants were slim-fit, tucked into a pair of shiny ankle boots. Over everything, he wore a thick cashmere coat and a wool scarf.

 

Qu Yanting thought an Eskimo had come to visit. He asked, puzzled, “Why are you dressed like that?”

 

It’s harder to undress this way, it makes me feel safe. Lu Wen answered, “It’s a bit cold at night, and I have a cold constitution.”

 

Qu Yanting was skeptical but stepped aside to let him in. “Come in.”

 

Lu Wen steeled himself and followed Qu Yanting inside. He noticed Qu Yanting’s flushed earlobes and damp hair—it was clear he had just taken a bath.

 

The reason for the bath was obvious—it was to welcome him.

 

As they walked to the living room, Lu Wen discreetly wiped the sweat from his brow when Qu Yanting wasn’t looking. On the coffee table were a laptop, a script, and some paper and pens; the scene was convincingly set up.

 

Since the hotel didn’t have a copier, they had to read the script on the laptop. Qu Yanting placed the laptop on the corner of the coffee table, and they sat on the carpet, separated by the table’s edge.

 

Lu Wen, feeling stifled in his heavy outfit, suspected that the script review was a pretense. He asked, “Teacher Qu, where’s the revised script?”

 

Qu Yanting tapped the touchpad, and the screen lit up, displaying the script for Scene 78.

 

Lu Wen was impressed—Qu Yanting was really going all out to seduce him.

 

“Read it over,” Qu Yanting said.

 

Lu Wen tucked his chin into his scarf, raised his eyebrows, and glanced sideways at Qu Yanting over the edge of the coffee table. Qu Yanting sat there, just two fists away, his delicate nose glowing under the light, his expression calm like a gentleman.

 

He was sneaking glances, and the more he looked, the more flustered he became. All his chaotic emotions surged to the surface, but the deepest one was disappointment. Because all the kindness and care he had been grateful for were just Qu Yanting’s tactics.

 

Suddenly, Qu Yanting looked back at him, his eyelashes fluttering like the wings of a butterfly.

 

Lu Wen immediately averted his gaze, guilty, and said, “I’ve finished reading.”

 

“Alright, I’ll read for Teacher Yang,” Qu Yanting said, gesturing toward the pen and paper on the table, “Let’s go over the lines and take notes.”

 

The blank paper was under the notebook. Lu Wen clumsily pulled it out, knocking the notebook onto the carpet. As he picked it up by the leather cover, a few sheets of lined paper slipped out.

 

Lu Wen picked them up and recognized the handwriting. It was his; he had crouched by the door, slipping these pages under the door one by one. Qu Yanting had actually kept them all.

 

Could he have kept them as love tokens?

 

The notebook contained important work tasks, which Qu Yanting quickly snatched back, including a few sheets of paper, and glared at him with a look that seemed to say, “Careless.”

 

Lu Wen thought to himself, this must be what people call shyness.

 

During the lesson, the emotions in this scene were delicate, and Qu Yanting explained them line by line. Lu Wen bent over the coffee table, taking notes. His handwriting was good, a skill forced upon him by Lu Zhanqing in his childhood, but he wrote slowly.

 

Qu Yanting slowed his speech, momentarily reminded of when he used to dictate vocabulary to his younger brother. When he finished, he handed over a red pen: “Next time, focus on the details, and mark them in red.”

 

Lu Wen’s short sleeves were already soaked with sweat. He secretly glanced at his watch—it was almost 12:30. Does the foreplay have to be this long? He even wondered, after all this, would Qu Yanting still have the energy to top him?

 

Well, he was supposed to be the one doing the hard work anyway.

 

But Qu Yanting had a bad back; could he handle something too intense?

 

Lu Wen’s mind wandered into outer space, his body hot, his heart flustered, and his face as red as if it had been marked by the red pen. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Suddenly, with a “smack,” his shoulder was slapped.

 

“Damn!” Lu Wen shouted out. He couldn’t tolerate being hit like that. “Why did you hit me?”

 

Qu Yanting’s index finger pointed at the paper: “Why did you write my name?”

 

Lu Wen was startled. Sure enough, on the paper were the words “Qu Yanting,” followed by a red squiggly line made by the pen tip. He lifted his scarf to wipe his sweat, searching for an excuse as he wiped: “I…”

 

Lu Wen stammered, just as his phone rang—it was Su Wang calling right on time.

 

He pretended to answer seriously, having already planned it out. Even if he couldn’t get away, at least he could make it clear to Qu Yanting that he was straight and already taken.

 

“Hello?” Lu Wen said through gritted teeth, “—Baby.”

 

Qu Yanting glanced over, momentarily surprised and curious, then his expression turned displeased. The work wasn’t even done yet, and this idiot was first distracted, now chatting on a personal call?

 

With who? A pretty nurse, a date, or someone else?

 

Actually, it was just Su Wang, an overworked finance worker. “What the hell…”

 

“You want flowers?” Lu Wen interrupted, “I’ll order them for you tomorrow. How about roses?”

 

Su Wang replied, “Has the spicy food in Chongqing messed with your head?”

 

“I’m not out partying, I’m just at the hotel,” Lu Wen said with an affectionate expression. “I can’t rest, and I can’t sleep alone.”

 

Su Wang responded, “Damn it, now you’re making me homophobic too!”

 

“Sweetheart, next time I’ll take you to Hongya Cave.” Lu Wen continued his act, “What? A video call? I’m afraid that’s not convenient…”

 

Su Wang had enough: “We’re done tonight. I wish you a bright future.”

 

Lu Wen quickly tried to keep him on the line: “Baby, don’t be mad!”

 

After hanging up, the living room fell into silence, a silence that spoke louder than words. Lu Wen saw Qu Yanting frowning and realized the other was frustrated, maybe even jealous. Just as he was about to add more fuel to the fire, his phone beeped again.

 

Lu Wen checked it—an assistant director had sent a last-minute notification that filming for Scene 78 would begin at 4:30 the next morning.

 

Lu Wen was a bit disoriented—Qu Yanting hadn’t lied to him?!

 

“Can we continue now?” Qu Yanting asked coldly, his patience exhausted.

 

A drop of sweat fell from Lu Wen’s face as he nodded. Qu Yanting lazily glanced at him with disdain: “You’ll run through the scene with Teacher Yang tomorrow morning, then we’ll start filming. Tonight, you have to prepare perfectly.”

 

The late-night rendezvous ended, turning into a one-on-one masterclass.

 

After thoroughly going over the details, the two of them got into character and rehearsed their lines together. They went through the scene four times, and once the flow was smooth, Lu Wen began to memorize his lines.

 

Qu Yanting’s mouth was dry, so he pulled a small bowl over, picked up a grape, and popped it into his mouth. It was a habit from childhood, one he couldn’t break—he ate one after another, unable to stop, expertly peeling and spitting out the seeds, quickly devouring half the bowl.

 

His hands sticky with juice, he got up to wash them.

 

Lu Wen had almost finished memorizing his lines. His legs were cramped from sitting cross-legged and he tried to stand up.

 

He leaned on the long sofa for support, but without realizing it, he pressed down on the remote control. Beep beep—the projector started up, automatically connecting to the system, and the last scene it displayed before being turned off appeared on the screen.

 

It was “Echoes of Paradise,” the movie that Ye Shan and his father never got to watch.

 

Qu Yanting returned to the living room after washing his hands, saw the projected image, froze for a moment, then rushed over and forcefully pressed the off button on the remote.

 

The screen went black, and Lu Wen came to his senses: “This movie—”

 

“Have you memorized your lines?” Qu Yanting cut him off.

 

Lu Wen replied, “I’ve memorized them.”

 

Qu Yanting issued an order: “Go back to your room and get some sleep.”

 

Lu Wen walked out in silence, his steps heavy. One call had brought him here, and one sentence sent him away—all at Qu Yanting’s discretion.

 

As he reached the entrance, he couldn’t resist turning back, nor could he resist asking, “Are you mad?”

 

Qu Yanting bent down to tidy up the coffee table, remaining silent.

 

Lu Wen offered an explanation: “I didn’t mean to touch anything. I’m sorry.”

 

The door opened and closed, and Lu Wen left. Qu Yanting stopped what he was doing, sat down on the sofa, and all the sleepiness that should have come in the middle of the night vanished.

 

On the computer screen, several revised scenes were sorted by date. Scene 78 was the last one revised—Qu Yanting’s task in Chongqing was complete.

 

At 4:30, the sky was still dark, and the crew members yawned incessantly.

 

Lu Wen had finished his makeup, but the dark circles under his eyes were still visible. After leaving Qu Yanting’s room, he hadn’t been able to sleep and had come straight to work, listlessly waiting for his turn.

 

When Yang Bin arrived, the father and son in the drama ran through their lines, and the filming began.

 

The camera zoomed in, clearly capturing the red veins in Lu Wen’s eyes. He stopped thinking about anything else and focused solely on acting, recalling the notes he had taken while rehearsing with Qu Yanting.

 

When to heighten the emotion, which words to emphasize, the key moments, the seconds of pause—Qu Yanting had taught him all of it. Lu Wen felt as if he had the answers, and even when facing a veteran actor, he was able to handle it with ease.

 

The scene was shot until daylight.

 

Lu Wen changed clothes and continued with the daytime filming. After seven or eight hours of sleepless work, he finished at noon, skipping lunch to crawl into his trailer for a nap.

 

He didn’t dare to sleep too long, just enough to regain some energy, then he washed his face and returned to the residential area, where he found a large crowd gathered at the end of the building, all around the grapevine.

 

Lu Wen went over to join in and was attracted by a large bouquet under the resting shed, along with a cream cake that had “Congratulations to Teacher Yang Bin on wrapping up” written on it.

 

Under the grapevine, Yang Bin was filming his final scene.

 

Lu Wen circled around to the balcony of Unit 101, watching from a distance. He had few scenes with Yang Bin, mostly those taking place in dreams, as Ye Shan was only eight years old when his father died.

 

A pair of twin boys played the childhood roles of Ye Shan and Ye Xiaowu, and at this moment, Ye Xiaowu was being held by his father under the grapevine.

 

Each actor had relatively independent scenes, and to Lu Wen, this scene felt somewhat unfamiliar.

 

Ye Xiaowu was sick, had a fever, and was making a fuss while getting a shot. After returning from the clinic, he clung to his father. His father sat under the grapevine with him, and a small bowl of grapes was placed on the table.

 

“Dad,” the young actor said with a childish voice, “the grapes are so big.”

 

His father peeled one and fed it to him: “Is it sweet?”

 

Ye Xiaowu ate, his cheeks puffed out, and asked innocently: “Dad, did you pick this from the vine?”

 

His father replied, “Yes, every time you have a fever and eat grapes, I pick them for you.”

 

“But…” Ye Xiaowu murmured, “Yesterday, I looked from below, so why didn’t I see them?”

 

His father laughed, “You always eat a whole bowl. When the grapes see you coming, they get scared and hide.”

 

Ye Xiaowu looked taken aback but believed it. He picked up the bowl of grapes and, with practiced hands, peeled them and ate them one by one.

 

His father asked, “Are you still enthusiastic?”

 

Ye Xiaowu said, “Since there are grapes now, I need to eat quickly!”

 

When the director called “cut,” the set erupted in cheers. Everyone shouted, “Congratulations to Teacher Yang Bin on wrapping up!” as flowers were presented and a large cake was brought out.

 

Lu Wen, however, stood in place, slowly turning around and looking up. Qu Yanting hadn’t come to the set; no one was on the balcony of Unit 101.

 

The area around the grapevine was bustling, but Lu Wen gazed out the window, thinking of the person who had eaten grapes, feeling a deep emptiness inside.